Tuesday, 31 December 2013

Having collected for my whole reading life my excitement for the medium has never waned. But this year especially has reminded me what a great hobby I share with some of the best people I know.

I worry where comics will end up. Sure it's a big world out there but numbers are malingering. The movies have helped some as have the TV series and the like. But for quality of product we've never been stronger. Eventually Jo public will understand.

Some high points of my year go to prove all the above points.

Listed in no particular order.

The friendship and comics chat of some great guys and girls at the Chaos City Comics Club where we meet every Saturday. Marc Laming, Matt Harrower, Alex Martin, Christian Wildgoose, Mark Foster, Ross O'Neill, Natasha and the guys at Chaos City Comics and Krypton Komics. We have had some great road trips to Thoughtbubble, Nerdfest, NYCC and a whole lot more. There's more planned and I look forward to each and every meet up.

Getting to know the great Pat Mills and discovering that we have so much in common. He's a true professional and has more ideas in a single page than most writers have in a whole series.

The NYCC this year was the best so far. Getting to spend time with old and new friends. Rachel and Jess Deering continue to make me chuckle and I look forward to seeing them soon.

Getting my name in the brilliant Kings Watch from Dynamite Comics was amazing! Thanks to the aforementioned Mr Laming. One of the most talented guys I know and a true gent. I have a feeling that great things lay ahead for this Comics Club alumni.

Having a character named after me (well my twitter handle of 'Riptide') in an upcoming comic by the super talented Matt Harrower was also an excellent moment.

Meeting the guys from 11 O'Clock Comics and The Orbiting Podcasts and getting a shout out made me smile on a boring commute.

Returning to writing comics (coming out soon I promise) and getting to be the comics reviewer for beardrock.com

The movies. Shit Beans! When I was a kid, who thought that we would get movies of this quality!?

And finally, the comics themselves! Better written and drawn than ever before. There's a real richness and diversity of product out there. Long may it continue.

Sunday, 1 December 2013

Two
pieces of barely illustrated grey and plain card enrap a number of White and
grey images. But this parcel says so much more than the average comic
and ina shorter time.Perfectly
reflecting the loneliness of a city. It uses static panels to reflect a
quiet moment in the heart of a city. No interaction. No real speech of
note. It’s a narrated story from start to finish. Commenting on the city and
the people through billboards and wings.

It’s
a short story in comic form that shows the life inside and outside of the space
between two outward facing billboards in a nameless city. It’s part art project
and part small press comic. It’s also truly beautiful in both the writing and
the art.

Then
comes the parallel of the two billboards to the two upright wings of a
butterfly. These are drawn with a minimalistic eye that says all that we
need to hear. The parallel is almost unspoken. Just poetry in comics. This
particular reader loved it.

The
butterfly exists in the space between its wings as the bespectacled central
character exists between the two arms of advertising billboards high in flight
between the skyscrapers of a city..

The
advertising is alive for mere moments in the eye of an observer as the life of
a butterfly passes us by.

A book
that sits in a pure moment. Existence portrayed as a fleeting moment of being.

It's a
short book and in a small format.

It's
layouts are simple and not much moves.

But
then again it doesn't need to.

It’s well worth a look. I picked mine up at the London Comica
Festival but you can get a copy through the creator’s website.

There are strange lights in the sky. Crazy monsters, hooded villains
and sexy mystical women are gathering and the world is going to shit quick. Flash
Gordon, Mandrake the Magician and The Phantom (with added groovy cast members)
band together to take on these strange events. Kings Watch is the mini-series
that reintroduces these characters back into the world with a vengeance.

Cards on the table.

It’s no secret that Marc
Laming is a great mate of mine and one of the pillars of our local Comics Club.
In fact we first met at a signing when he was doing Planet of the Apes for Boom
Comics a year or so ago. He remains one of the best artists out there. His
style has a traditional noir style to it. You can see some Wally Wood, Alex
Toth, Howard Chaykin and Alex Raymond. For me he is easily one of the best
artists out there stylistically along with Alex Maleev, Nic Klein, Michael
Lark, Butch Guice and Mike Perkins. All part of a pleasing trend at the moment
in comics that combines great art and superb storytelling ability. And he sure
can pull off a horse.

Jeff Parker has also
featured heavily in these pages over the years and I have always made lots of
noise to those that listened about his excellent Thunderbolts run at Marvel
Comics. His work is always full of cool dialogue and nasty edged action.

I also think that Dynamite are really on the top of their
game at the moment. Having always been a fan of the old pulp titles I am now
buying more of their books than DC
Comics. They have been trying some crossovers recently with their Masks and Dark Nights series. This book looks set to top the lot.

I have genuinely not
been this excited for a new release for years. Having been privy to some
preview pages I can guarantee that you are in for an excellent book.

A two fisted, non-stop
exercise in cool storytelling. Kings Watch brings back this bundle of KingFeatures characters in one interwoven story that spans the globe. Defenders of the Earth with added edge
and some John Wu ‘fuck you up’ attitude. Spin into this mix some genuinely
funny moments (I get the impression that the Flash / Zarkov interactions are
going to be a highlight) and this is really rolling into Dynamite’s best book
to date.

But I think that it’s
The Phantom who seems to be turning into my favourite so far (at least from
what I have seen). The moments where he is fighting a dinosaur creature in
issue 1 looks like it’s been thought up by Jack Kirby and drawn by Al
Williamson. There’s a little bit of Wolverine, some Wildcat and a whole bunch
of Batman Year One in the mix. He will keep punching you until you drop and
looks fucking cool (even in those stripy shorts).

The colouring on the
book is also worth a huge shout out. Above and Beyond artistry by Jordan Boyd.
The richness of the colour jumps out at you in each panel. Just an incredible
attention to details. Magnificent stuff.

I urge you to pick this book up. In my opinion it's going to be the next big thing!

If you fancy hearing
more about this book pre-release there’s a great interview with Marc and Jeff
at www.noncanonical.com

You can also find
Jeff Parker on Twitter @jeffparker

Marc Laming is on
Twitter @monkey_marc

Jordan Boyd is
@jordanboyd

You can also find
more of my humble mumblings and those of Comics Club @Ezohyez or at the comics
pages at www.beardrock.com

Sunday, 11 August 2013

Saturday, 10 August 2013

I just got back from two long weeks in The Hague. At 45 minutes from Amsterdam it's a hollow substitute. I think it actually closes at 8pm.

I did however pick up some great Euro comics goodness at Aelix Comix and Strips. The shop is awesome and stacked to the rafters. Well worth a visit. The owner went out if his way to chat and introduce me to some Dutch comics.

Since Dutch addresses are a little bit of a mouthful for an English only idiot like me here is the address from google. Enjoy.